Port Hope Capitol Theatre announces cast, team for ‘Red!’
By West Northumberland Independent
Theatre-goers will be seeing “Red!” this holiday season as Capitol Theatre has announced the cast for this year’s annual holiday Panto.
The 2026 installment of the Panto will be “Red!...A Big Bad Wolf Panto,” which is an original retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
“Our annual Panto tradition brings our whole community together, whether you’re looking for something naughty or something to share with your family,” said Rob Kempson, the Capitol Theatre’s artistic director. “This year, with an internationally-celebrated writer and director, it’s sure to tickle your funny bone and get you singing along.”
Kempson has announced the cast and creative crew behind the production. A Big Bad Wolf Panto is written by Rebecca Northan, writer of 2023’s hit production, Jack: A Beanstalk Panto, with music supervision and arrangements by Jeff Newberry.
It will be directed by Aurora Browne (Baroness Von Sketch), and Scott Pietrangelo will be the music director and MJ Shaw the choreographer.
As is signature of the Capitol Panto, scheduled performances include both family-friendly and “naughty” adult-oriented versions of the show.
“When Red leaves home with a basket of treats for her granny, all she has to do is stick to the path and avoid talking to strangers, but there’s a groovy beat in the darkest part of the woods, and every young girl is up for adventure,” noted the Capitol, in a recent release. “When she crosses paths with a bad-ass wolf, Red’s journey takes a turn that she never expected.”
The Panto features an all-star cast including, Zoë O’Connor as “Red,” and Paul Bates as “Wolf,” as well as Gabi Epstein, Nicky Nasrallah, Colin Asuncion, Alex Furber, Malinda Carroll, and Griffin Hewitt, with musician Justin Han.
“I am delighted to be working with Capitol Theatre to dig into a very old, very dark story adapted by the wonderful Rebecca Northan,” said Browne. “We are cooking up an evening of naughty laughs with incredible, talented performers – all the better to thrill the audience with, my dears.”
The creative team includes Adam Campbell (sound design), Joe Pagnan (set design), Joyce Padua (costume design), and Michelle Ramsay (lighting design.)
Single tickets for the production are available via Capitoltheatre.com/red/.
In addition to the Panto, Holidays at the Capitol includes the 30th annual Festival of Lights and Trees. Since its inception in 1997, this annual fundraising initiative has been a community favourite, becoming a yearly tradition for guests of all ages, while also raising essential operating funds for the Capitol Theatre.
Visitors can enjoy “a winter wonderland” of holiday wreaths and Christmas trees decorated by local businesses and community organizations and enter to win the decorations through the theatre’s popular yearly raffle, added the theatre.
A series of festive concerts will also take place at the Capitol this winter, including the Good Lovelies: Christmas 2026 on Sunday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m., and Tim and Tina: A Country and Rock Extravaganza on Thursday, Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Interested attendees can learn more about visiting the Capitol Theatre’s website.
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